ANCHOR HOUSE INC OF POLK COUNTY
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Mission Statement
Anchor House Ministries, a Christian facility, has been in Auburndale since 1974. It was built to provide a home for boys who were neglected, abandoned and abused. The organization has had its up and downs and was re-established with a new Executive Director in December of 2013. We are accredited with the Council on Accreditation and have created a subsidiary 501(c)(3) that provides transitional housing for young men and women aging out of foster care. Anchor House has a residential group home for boys and girls ages 11-17, who have been placed under the care of the state, or whose guardians cannot care for them. Our program includes, life skills and vocational training, education and behavior planning, and individual counseling.
About This Cause
According to national estimates, approximately 20,000 children "age out" of foster care each year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). A little less than 2,000 of those kids are in Florida. For every young person who ages out of foster care, taxpayers and communities pay $300,000 in social costs such as public assistance, incarceration, and lost wages over that person's lifetime. In our community, there are very few resources available to prepare teens for aging out of foster care. Statistically less than half of these foster kids will be employed by age 24. In addition to being unemployed, 60% of males will be convicted of a crime and 25% will be homeless at some point after leaving foster care. Here are a few of the program needs at Anchor House: 1. Anchor House is establishing a landscaping business that will employ the youth residing at Anchor house, while also providing a quality service to the community and allowing community members to be involved in our program that gives hope to many youth in foster care. The company will provide an environmentally friendly lawn care and Landscaping service that goes above and beyond with great attention to detail. In order to prepare the young men in our community for the workforce and independent life, Anchor House will be starting a landscaping business that will give teenage boys in foster care a chance to be employed and learn job skills before they leave Anchor House and go out into the real world. The landscaping business will teach 4-5 boys between the ages of 15 and 18 at a time. As they gain the skills they need and exit the program more boys will enter. This will help prevent the unemployment, homelessness, and delinquency that often occur when a foster youth turns 18. By employing youth at Anchor House and giving them the job skills they need, our goal is for the youth that leave our care to be prepared for independence. We want to raise the statistics and help these young adults to be employed and able to prosper on their own. Need: We need funds to help with the start up and equipment costs of this venture. We have hired qualified management, but need funds to establish ourselves. 2. Behavior Programming is an area that Anchor House is expanding. Residents are provided with individualized behavior goals and a plan to help them succeed. Staff are trained in trauma informed care and provide the boys with a supportive environment in which they can grow and develop socially, emotionally and behaviorally. Each resident receives an initial Well-being Assessment and has an individualized plan with goals and objectives that will help them reach their career and behavior goals. Individual goals are created for life skills, education and behavior management. Goals are tracked weekly and progress is monitored with the treatment team monthly. Needs: Funds are needed to help cover the costs of hiring a Behavior Analyst. Funds are also needed to help cover the costs of our incentive program. 3. In May 2015, Anchor House launched Transition to Success, a program that helps young men who age out of the foster care system. Picture a 17 year old, living in a group home, wondering where he will live in a few months once he turns 18 and is displaced from the foster care system. The options are scary. The homeless shelters become a real possibility for some of these teens. Now imagine the same young man with a new opportunity. He is given a place to live, a job, is mentored, shown how to care for his home, cook meals and manage his finances. All of a sudden there is hope in what once seemed hopeless. These boys are given help finding jobs through relationships Anchor House has established with local businesses. The house parents will be hands-on at their jobs in the beginning, preparing them for the interview process, and assisting with training, communicating expectations, and providing transportation. We currently have an established transition home that houses 5 boys. They have had great success, but have reached capacity and now have to turn away boys who will likely end up on the street. Needs: We have received funds to purchase a second transition home, and are requesting funds for the salary of the new house parent/life coach.